The present disclosure is related to power and communication in patient support apparatuses. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to a patient support apparatus or accessory that receives power and communication from an adjacent structure with no physical connection between the apparatus and the structure.
Patient care equipment such as hospital beds, and auxiliary carts and devices in a patient room are each becoming more sophisticated. The patient care equipment has become more sophisticated allowing information about the equipment or a patient related to the equipment to be transmitted to a central information system and made part of a particular patient's medical record. Mobility of the equipment is important to the provision of care so that the equipment can move with the patient as the patient moves through a hospital to receive care.
The use of battery powered equipment is acceptable, but charging of the batteries generally requires that the equipment be physically connected to mains power through a power cord. When necessary, a caregiver must position the equipment in the room and plug a cord into a wall. The location of the power outlet may be behind the preferred position of the equipment such that a caregiver must move the equipment multiple times to get access to the outlet and return the equipment to the preferred location after a cord is connected. The cord hangs from the equipment when not in use and presents a trip hazard.
Additionally, communications between the equipment and the central information system may be accomplished through either a wired or wireless datalink, but association of the particular piece of equipment and a particular patient is problematic. In a wired datalink, the connection point of the datalink may be associated with a patient location. Furthermore, a wired datalink may also create additional logistic issues similar to the problems associated with a power cord including the need to connect the datalink and the trip hazard presented by the wired datalink. A wireless datalink creates challenges in that the location of the equipment may not be readily distinguished as several different receiving points may simultaneously detect the same signal.